Unbeaten Martin Bakole has sparred both Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury and tells Danny Flexen about his experiences
Sparring Tyson Fury:
"He sparred two people before me and when it was my turn, he said, ‘Yeah, you are different.’” recalls the 11-0 (8) Congolese heavyweight. “I sparred four rounds but there were many people – two in, two out – but when I sparred him he didn’t want to do two with me, just one, because I was ‘touching’ him. That was three years ago now, after the [Wladimir] Klitschko fight. I didn’t touch him a lot like when I spar other people. But I touch him and him to touch me was difficult because I always move. But he’s a little bit taller so to touch him you have to think. He can spar with other people and they never touch his head but I touched him three-four times.”
Sparring Anthony Joshua
“Joshua, we sparred nice before the [Carlos] Takam fight, but when it [his opponent] was supposed to be [Kubrat] Pulev,” remembers 26-year-old Aidrie-based Bakole. “We did 50 rounds in total. One day they called me to do 10 rounds with him but the coach said ‘no’ after six, seven rounds, and changed to someone else. I was doing well. I came to spar 10 rounds so I was surprised.”